Author Tasha Gutting Tyska drew upon her interest in Victorian Era societies and Greek art to write "And Only to Deceive, A Novel of Suspense." The South Bend native and 1992 University of Notre Dame graduate published the book under the pseudonym Tasha Alexander. "And Only To Deceive" is in its second printing. Employees of The Poisoned Pen bookstore voted it as one of the top 20 new mysteries of 2005. The Arizona store is billed as the largest mystery bookstore in North America and specializes in historical mysteries. David-Kidd bookstore of Nashville, Tenn., lists it as sixth on its best-seller list. A large-print edition will be available in January 2006. Rights to translate the novel have been sold for its distribution in Greece. The story spans genres, appealing to lovers of suspense, history and romance. And facts about Greek art and artifacts are blended smoothly into the story to add to its intrigue. The narrator is Emily, a bold and curious young English woman living in the Victorian Era. Restrictive societal rules and an overbearing mother make her life unenjoyable. "She cut my allowance, telling me I must learn to live on a pittance if I were determined to be a spinster. The final affront came one morning when she entered my room with a dressmaker's tape. She wanted to measure my waist to see how quickly I was becoming old and fat. I could bear it no longer," Emily tells the reader. And so Emily marries Viscount Philip Ashton, a man she barely knows, to escape a situation she can barely withstand. After only a few months of marriage, Emily receives notice that her husband died while on a hunting trip abroad. In the process of settling his affairs, Emily meets her husband's friends and colleagues. Philip's life, Emily begins to realize, was more mysterious than she knew. "I returned to the library, where, after a cursory glance through the unremarkable contents of the desk, I started searching the shelves for books about Greece and found volume upon volume: histories and classical literature in both the ancient language and translation. Until now I had assumed these were vestiges of Philip's studies at Eton and Cambridge. I flipped through several of them, unsure of what I wanted to find. Frustrated with my complete lack of direction, I picked up a guide to the British Museum. The book fell open to a page that held a carefully folded note written in a hand I did not recognize. 'Your present course of action has placed you in grave danger.'æ"As Emily digs deeper into the lifestyle Philip led, she realizes the man she assumed he was could just as easily have been a man she'd never met. Philip had very likely been involved in a deceitful, dangerous business. Alexander does a fine job of supporting Emily's challenges with accurate portrayals of societal roles in the 1890s. An interesting labyrinth of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors exists, especially considering the young widow has more than enough money to support herself. The author says this is a sticking point when writing historical fiction. "While people are very similar throughout the ages, they're not identical. I wanted her to be uncomfortable with the restrictions she's faced with. But it isn't realistic for her to outright reject all of it. If you're brought up in this restrictive, relegated way, you're not just going to instantly run amok," Alexander said at a recent book signing at the University of Notre Dame's bookstore. Cecile du Lac, an older, more experienced Parisian, becomes one of Emily's friends and mentors, as does Margaret Steward, an American woman. Both have the advantages of higher education and exposure to societies of a slightly less conservative nature. These women have knowledge and gumption, qualities Emily is just beginning to discover within herself. "In Victorian Era England, there were very few women who went to university. In America, wealthy women at least had the opportunity to attend, to gain knowledge about the world, arts and language. So Margaret brings into Emily's life what she would not have known about otherwise. Both Margaret and Cecile show her possibilities," Alexander said. Emily's mother's haranguing creates a dimension that mere narrative cannot. "This insistence of yours on pursuing Philip's intellectual work is very odd. There is no role for women in the academic world," she tells Emily. "I could not imagine where you would get such ideas until I met your friend, Miss Seward. ... She is taking you down a path that can lead to no good. You have been attending lectures, child. Have you lost all sense of decorum?" And Alexander does not ignore the societal roles of men. In fact, the author's loyalty to it is what sustains the intrigue. Characters pass time with hobbies in exotic locations, intellectual interests, finances and business dealings. But these are mysterious things to Victorian women in London. It isn't a far stretch to imagine there could be other secrets as well. And Philip, charming Colin Hargreaves, hopeful suitor Andrew Palmer and others do indeed have other pursuits. These are slowly uncovered for the reader by Emily and her friends' discreet investigations. But Alexander does not fall into the often-seen rut of making all men evil and underhanded. Instead their characteristics are fully developed. Along with Emily, the reader gets to know them as layers are revealed, a piece at a time. Dialogue and descriptions of Greek antiquity collections in Paris and Greece are historically correct and beautifully done. Factual information seamlessly supports the story line. Alexander's Web site, www.tashaalexander.com, has photos of items that Emily describes seeing during museum visits, along with related quotes.